A Dream To Hold On To
by Must.Kill
Summary: Paths are crossed and hearts are broken again and again. Shikamaru and Temari are in love, but things get in the way, trying to mess up their relationship. Are they truly meant for each other or is this just a game for each others’ amusement?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter ONE:** Introduction

The wind blew through her hair. He looked at her with loving eyes, taking his hand to brush off the free blonde strands that were blocking his view from his lover's eyes.

"I love you," he says in that carefree voice of his. It tickled her ears to hear those three precious words from her special one and only.

"Shikamaru!"

The voice was a disturbance, filling the air with an awkward silence between them.

Shikamaru let out a sigh, expecting to be torn away from the sweet paradise that he'd so dearly longed for. And that was Temari.

"I guess I should go now…" Temari hesitated as if anticipating something. Shikamaru just sat there, watching her. His gaze was of a longing desire that he'd wanted to feed.

Temari's beauty was like an ocean that couldn't be contained and her spirit was like that wind, wild and free. Just what Shikamaru had so deeply fallen in love with.

He smiled, feeling the tension growing between them. Temari just sighed, rolling her eyes and stood from where she'd sat.

"Shikamaru!"

It was Ino, no doubt. That loud, shrill voice, always calling for Shikamaru's aid or rather, his attention. He exhaled, wearily wanting to just take a long relaxing nap.

Ino came running from the hills carrying a big smile on her face.

_What a dork_, Temari said, silently, knowing the other girl's intentions for these unexplainable interruptions. She cursed in her thoughts as she made her way towards the opposite direction, avoiding any contact with Ino.

Shikamaru frowned, disappointed at Temari's quick exit. He hadn't been able to spend any time with her lately, and it was becoming a bother. Every time they had tried to meet each other, there were always these aggravating interferences.

"Yeah, Ino? What is it?" He said it in a lazy tone. Or was it annoyance? Ino couldn't tell. She skipped to his side, dropping herself to where Temari had just a few moments ago been sitting. Dreaming. Losing her thoughts in Shikamaru's eyes, just as he had been lost in hers.

"You okay, there?" Ino's voice, one again, broke through the discontented boy's wandering mind.

"Fine," he answered, bluntly. "What was it that you wanted?"

Ino giggled like a schoolgirl. She just sat there, looking up at the clouds, still smiling. "I don't know. Just wanted to talk to you. We haven't really had the chance to actually just talk."

"And you thought 'now' was a good choice?"

"Oh." Her head dropped and shoulders slumped. She avoided eye contact. "So I guess I'm bothering you…"

Shikamaru noted her voice had also gotten quiet with discouragement. He didn't mean to hurt her. All he wanted was for some privacy with Temari. That's it. But nooooo, because life has to be like that all the time. _How troublesome_, he though.

"Look," Shikamaru had no idea what he was doing. He felt worn out all of a sudden, as if just saying these words were tiring enough. "I didn't mean it like that."

_Sure, you didn't…because all you're thinking about is Temari, right now, aren't you?_

Ino kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to have to fight with Shikamaru and hearing him defend her. What was it Temari had that she didn't? She didn't feel it to be very fair.

_But I can still win you over! I know I can! I just have to try hard enough!_

"Shikamaru?" Ino's voice surprised Shikamaru. The tone in it had turned serious and dismal.

"You okay?"

She didn't answer and had instead left Shikamaru hanging with his question, while she tried to find the right words to say. What was she supposed to say? _Darn it, Ino! Don't make a scene! This isn't the time._

"Uhh…I…" She hesitated, still seeking for the correct things to say.

Shikamaru turned to look at her, tilting his head as he waited for Ino's response. She seemed like she was in a good mood just a few seconds ago, what had happened to make her look so flustered?

Ino gulped and her mind blanked. _Crap! What do I do? What do I say? I finally have his full attention and I can't even remember what the heck I'm supposed to tell him._

_Good going, Ino. Ugh, shut up! Oh great, now you're talking to yourself inside your head. I said SHUT UP!_

"Uhh…I was wondering…Shikamaru…if you were busy tomorrow night?"

Ino's face flushed red as she got the question out. She didn't know what he would say, but she would do anything for it to be a simple 'yes.'

A small grunt came from a body lying beside her. Shikamaru's eyes were closed and his breathing was paced.

"Y-you're…asleep?"

Ino's anger rose. She didn't know why she even bothered. The idiot was lying peacefully, taking a nap beside her while she, on the other hand, was trying not to throw a fit in the process of asking him out.

"Lazy ass bastard," she muttered. Then smiled and said in a sweet low voice, "Shikamaru? Wake up." Ino shook his shoulder as she spoke.

Shikamaru mumbled something under his breath before turning on his other side facing away from Ino.

Well, this was enough to throw Ino into one of her raging moods.

"SHIKAMARU! GET UP! HOW DARE YOU TAKE A NAP WHILE I'M TALKING TO YOU! SHIKA-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the boy had put a hand over her mouth motioning for her to stop her tantrum, with an annoyed look and a groan.

"You don't have to yell you know," he said. "I was only out cold for a minute, geez…How troublesome."

"How troublesome??? Is that all you can say to me???"

Shikamaru smirked. "Look, I heard what you came to ask me, but I can't. Sorry, I'm sorta with someone right now."

_I'm sorta with someone right now._ What he said played a second time in her head. She was still for a moment, but came back to reality when she realized Shikamaru had stood. He just stayed there a minute.

"Sorry," he muttered again, and just like that, he left her there with her own thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter TWO:** Troublesome?

Shikamaru decided to walk an extra few miles to nowhere in particular. His thoughts raced around in his head with Temari reverting back into his dreams.

The blonde strands of hair that were soft against his skin burned into his mind, in addition to her brilliant smile and radiance. Her soft laughter as she tilted her head back, letting all the angels hear, passed through his thoughts.

"Arf!"

"Hmm?" Shikamaru looked down by his leg, where a scruffy dog had been playfully trying to catch his attention. "Akamaru? Aren't you Kiba's little mutt?"

"Hey! He doesn't like being called a mutt, you know," said a boy from behind him.

Shikamaru turned around to see who'd just spoken to him. The boy was glaring at him with annoyance in his eyes. His hair was tousled and he had red triangle marks on his face that complimented the expression he held. In a way, it was kind of…cute.

"Kiba…sorry," Shikamaru said, hesitantly.

"Hey, I'm not the one you should be sorry to." Kiba looked at his dog, which was still pawing at Shikamaru's leg and looked back up at Shikamaru. "Well?"

Shikamaru had to smirk. This was ridiculous, but nonetheless he had offended Kiba and supposedly his dog. He bent down, offering his hand to Akamaru, in which the little pup licked, and gently ran the other hand through its fur. "Sorry, Akamaru."

Hearing himself say that, it seemed like all he was doing today was apologizing. It wasn't that much of a trouble, but he didn't want to feel like everything he did was wrong, either.

Shikamaru got to his feet and turned head, starting to walk off. He felt the dog pawing at his leg again as it tried to keep pace. _Stupid mutt…_

He tried to keep walking, ignoring the new annoyance that had too soon arrived.

While so, Kiba had taken notice and gave out a sudden outburst of laughter. Amused by the scene Akamaru was making, he continued to laugh, until finally he realized that Shikamaru was staring at him with irritation.

"Uhh…wanna go out for ramen sometime?

Shikamaru flinched. Did he hear right? At the sound of the tone in his voice, it was like Kiba was asking him out.

That was strange…considering…well…they were both guys…and Shikamaru, as far as he was concerned, wasn't like that. It was probably a misunderstanding. He must've heard it wrong and Kiba just wanted to hang out. After all, they hadn't actually had time to do that with all the missions and Temari.

Kiba blushed a little at Shikamaru's hesitant stare, biting his lower lip and trying hard as he could not to avoid eye contact.

It made Shikamaru nervous to see Kiba blush at him like that. He felt the atmosphere between them get tense. Shikamaru didn't know what to do. He felt his face get hot and guessed he was probably turning a crimson red.

"Uhh…actually," Shikamaru tried to suppress his confusion and shock from showing on his face and struggled to keep his voice calm and on a low level. This never happened to him before and he didn't know what to do. _What a bother…this is so troublesome…_

Meanwhile, Kiba was dying from excitement. He'd wanted to ask Shikamaru out for a very long time now, only he wanted to do it when they were alone.

He soon learned that it didn't matter if they were alone or not. Someone would still get a kick out of it, thinking it as just another one of their lame wisecrack jokes.

He thought that Shikamaru was laughing in his head at the silly question Kiba never should have asked. But then again, his face was getting a dangerous red and it looked like he just wanted to go…to go and get away as far away from him as possible. _Don't hate me_, Kiba chanted in his head, _don't hate me, don't hate me, don't hate me…_

"Well…" Shikamaru started, but just as he had, he was interrupted by the now very nervous and fidgety dog boy.

"I'm sorry!" Kiba's expression was unrecognizable. He never looked this desperate before. In fact, he'd never looked so desperate in his life. It was starting to creep Shikamaru out a little. Already choking on his words, he continued anyways. "I shouldn't have asked so suddenly. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Gomen nasai!!!"

"Hey," Shikamaru said with a deep sigh as if giving up, though the battle, for all he knew, had not even started yet. "I'll go," he put in, simply.

"YOU WILL!??"

Kiba was ecstatic. He never thought, or even dreamed, that this day would come.

Shikamaru's face was almost emotionless and you could see that he was a little sleepy, but in the corner of his eyes, there was a twinkling light of amusement that even Shikamaru, himself, did not take notice of.

"Sure…free food…" Shikamaru said this in a casual way that made Kiba's heart pound. He thought, by that, Shikamaru didn't feel anything against him for asking him out. But he also figured that there was some kind of catch.

"We don't even have to get ramen!!! We can get something else!!! Whatever you like!!!"

Kiba's little outburst shocked even himself. Where had all those words come from? Surely, he wasn't subconsciously thinking them…what the hell? Of course, he was. He was always thinking that; whenever he was alone or when Shikamaru was within distance.

He'd spy on him, just for fun, observing Shikamaru's life, day after day when he wasn't sent out on missions. After the first few days of spying, it became a hobby.

Shikamaru's life wasn't really all that interesting, but for some strange reason, Kiba couldn't stop. He knew how creepy and pathetic it was, but he was already lost in Shikamaru's world…in his life. And then, there was that one time that the thought of being a part of it, even Shikamaru's dreams, came to mind.

It was a silly idea, of course, and so he dismissed it. But later that night, he was just about ready to fall on his bed, and suddenly the thought rose back to his head. He was tired as hell, but for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about it…about Shikamaru.

How would it be like if he and Shikamaru were to spend one day together? Or better yet, more than one day…an eternity.

It confused him, but he knew that the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He laughed out loud, hearing happiness in his own tone. This feeling was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. The clarity of how he'd pictured himself to be happy was just so nice, he didn't want to let go of it.

Kiba would make it come true, his dreams, one way or another.

---

He trailed off, making sure that Akamaru was no longer following and pestering him, trying to distance himself and the two he'd left behind.

_Geez, Temari's gonna ask questions about this…what's worse is she'll probably just laugh at me and my situation._

He imagined her laughter again. It was so sweet the way her tone of voice would change and a light giggle would escape her mouth. He remembered that time when they had their first encounter. It was at the chuunin exams and he was facing off against Temari. She looked like a worthy opponent, though he didn't understand why he was always paired up fighting a girl. It just felt so troublesome and wasn't really his style to beat up a girl.

Nonetheless, it was all he could do to win and pass. But then something went wrong...

The first battle started off with Neji facing off against Naruto. Everyone expected Neji to win, although some just barely hoped for Naruto's survival. It was a great tactic, what Naruto did. It just showed he really did have a brain after all.

Of course, his attacks were a little rough around the edges and a little bit dull. But in the end, well…that was the most surprising part. Not that Shikamaru cared.

Battle after battle passed and it was quite bothersome for the next one, before Shikamaru's fight, had been skipped. It seemed as though Kankurou, one of the teammates of the sand village and the brother of Shikamaru's opponent had cancelled and forfeited his match with Shino.

This was a real pain to Shikamaru for he had not been at all anticipating this early fight. He hadn't even been looking forward to waking up on that particular day, let alone fighting at the chuunin's…

What actually ticked Shikamaru off was that, once again, he had to fight a girl. It's not like he was weak or anything, but why was it always a girl that he'd have to fight. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was karma…whatever it was, he still would've won if it wasn't for his chakra hastily dissipating.

Yea, he'd fought hard…harder than usual…there was just something about her, Temari. Something that made him want to try. At the time, he was only figuring this out during when she dodged his first shadow. He felt something tugging at his heart he'd never felt before. Every time he looked at her from that point, he would choke and silently curse himself, oblivious of what he was doing.

Shikamaru's thoughts were soon cut off by a familiar voice that whispered softly in his ear.

"Hey."

That smile. It was only a few moments ago since he'd seen it, but still being away from that beautiful face just made him feel lonely.

He gave her a peck on the cheeks, smiling mischievously.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing." He grinned at her, forgetting the time and place, losing himself, once again, in her presence.

"Yeah, right." Temari rolled her eyes and smiled back at Shikamaru. She offered a light giggle, "You look so goofy like that."

"Well, love can make you do stupid things."

"Oh yeah? Show me."

He was more than happy to show her; to let her know of his everlasting love for the goddess that stood so close to him. He leaned in to her face, closing his eyes, and softly brushing his lips against hers.

"You're my only motivation," he whispered.

"That sounds kinda weird," she whispered back, "but I guess coming from you, it's probably the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me."

"You're my world," he continued.

"Stop, already," she giggled, "I get it, ok?"

"You're my life," he concluded and swallowed her up in a sweet and passionate kiss.

"Shikamaru…" Temari's eyes went in a haze as if she were dreaming. For a while, they just stood there, holding each other, oblivious of the world around them.

Finally Shikamaru broke the comforting silence. His voice returned to his nonchalant and uncaring tone. "So, are you busy tonight?"

Temari nodded and gave him a shrug and a sorry smile. "On a mission; we're supposed to leave early tonight to get to where we're going the next morning. I might not be here for a while."

"I see," Shikamaru looked away and sighed, "It's ok, good luck then…so where _are_ you going?"

She pushed him, playfully, knowing full well what he was up to. "If I told you, you'd probably just follow me, wouldn't you?"

"Hmmm, no," Shikamaru's carefree smile gave it away. Of course he was going to. After all, being the person that he was, how could he just survive without the girl he loved…even if it _was_ only a few days.

Besides, for all he knew, something could happen to Temari. Of course, that was just an excuse for himself wanting to be with her all the time. He really did want to protect her though…all the time…forever until eternity.

Temari gave Shikamaru a kiss as she looked up at the sun. "I better get going. It's only a few minutes left until we take our leave. Promise not to follow me?"

"Oh please, why would I follow you? It's too troublesome." He bit his lip, wanting to follow her so badly. He needed to be with her. Except now that she'd asked for him not to, there was no way he could possibly break his promise.

Temari nodded and disappeared into thin air.

"Just come back safe," Shikamaru said, more to himself than the empty space where Temari had been standing just a few seconds ago.


End file.
